Who Goes There?
by Gale Force
Summary: Whom Gods Destroy as it should have been. The insane Garth of Izar manages to get aboard the USS Enterperise, where he then enters into a deadly game of cat and mouse with Kirk and Spock. Can he, will he kill Kirk and take his place? COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**Who Goes There? Or The Mind of Garth of Izar**

_A re-envisioning of Whom Gods Destroy?_

By Gale Force

CHAPTER ONE

**Part One**

Dr. Donald Cory, governor of the colony and mental institution located on the inhospitable planet of Elba II, walked down hallways toward the command center. His boots made no sound on the tile floor…there were no clicking echoes from the walls. He moved in complete silence, like a cat.

There was no one to hear those echoes, even if there had been any. Elba was run by a skeleton staff of ten individuals, with Cory at their head. New staff were rotated into and out of the colony every year…lest they succumb to the various ills that working in such a remote location could engender. Donald Cory was not one of those who needed such coddling, however. He was dedicated to his profession, and enjoyed the solitude. He left the colony only at rare intervals.

A new staff had arrived just a month ago…and even now they were busy reviewing patient histories, or conducting their own medical experiments, or having a social hour in the dining room or lounge.

Except for one staff member, who had been suitably impressed to meet one particular inmate of the mental institution…its newest one…. She had her instructions and would be following them.

Cory's right cheek puckered, briefly, in the very slightest of grins, then all expression was wiped from his face.

He entered the command center and the door slid shut behind him. He gazed around the room thoughtfully. Black panels with flickering lights lined the walls. In one corner was a large desk with a computer screen in front of it. There was one large window, and on the other side of six inches of plate glass the poisonous green atmosphere of Elba II seethed and pressed.

Cory stopped and looked into one of those black panels, and saw a face reflected there. A lined, sixty-ish looking face, yellow skinned, dark almond eyes. His face? No…for a few seconds grey eyes gazed back at him….cold as ice…_that_ was his face…don't forget!

Cory glanced at the chronometer on the wall…if Evangeline was correct, and of course she would be…the starship was due within the hour.

Cory sat down at the desk, and punched a few buttons on the keyboard. He knew all the passwords – Evangeline had told him.

Ah…here were the records. The starship was the U.S.S. _Enterprise_, commanded by Captain James T. Kirk. The _Enterprise_…. Cory mused. He had heard of it. Kirk was one of the most renowned of the new generation of Star Fleet Officers, and he had a First Officer…a Vulcan… the first Vulcan to ever serve with a human crew. At one point….Cory blinked a couple of times as the wheels of his minds meshed for a second…at one point, _he_ had wanted to meet this Kirk….who had often been talked about as inheriting the mantle…._his_ mantle…..Cory blinked again and the thought skittered away back into the recesses of his mind.

He flicked over to the regulations governing contact between a starship and a penal or mental colony, and read quickly. His gaze stopped on one line. "Special procedures when dealing with such colonies include the use of a sign/countersign before beaming up, to ensure that no unauthorized personnel can leave the colony."

Cory's lips twitched again, very briefly. He had suspected as much.

He would be prepared.

**Part Two**

The U.S.S. _Enterprise_ entered orbit around Elba II.

"Captain's log, stardate 5718.3. The Enterprise is orbiting Elba II, a planet with a poisonous atmosphere where the Federation maintains an asylum for the few remaining incorrigible criminally insane in the galaxy. We are bringing a revolutionary new medicine to them. A medicine with which the Federation hopes to eliminate mental illness for all time. I am transporting down with Mr. Spock, and we are delivering the medicine to Dr. Donald Cory, the governor of the colony."

Kirk punched the button to turn off his log, then glanced at Lt. Uhuru. "Open hailing frequencies."

"Hailing frequencies open, Captain."

"Elba II, this is James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise. We have just entered orbit."

The face of Dr. Donald Cory appeared on screen. He was smiling.

"Captain Kirk."

Kirk grinned. "Donald. It's great to see you. We're ready to beam down."

Cory didn't miss a beat. "Jim. Excellent. I'll lower the force field."

"Looking forward to seeing you, Donald. Kirk out."

It was one of the yearly duties of the _Enterprise_ to deliver stores to Elba II, as well as medicines, and Kirk and Cory had become friends. On this occasion, only medicine was being delivered.

Kirk and Spock entered Sickbay. Doctor McCoy looked up tiredly from his desk.

"Bones. How are things?" asked Kirk.

An epidemic of Variaega Flu had broken out on planet Debulon V, and doctors in starships and planet-side throughout the systems had been working on devising medicine for it. Doctor McCoy had been spending the last week doing so.

"I sent off my formula by subspace radio just an hour ago," said McCoy. "They'll be able to synthesize it on Debulon and start inoculations within the next six hours. I'm still waiting to hear that it works."

"Of course it will work, Bones," said Kirk, bracingly.

McCoy smiled tiredly. "Nevertheless, I want to remain here until I hear. Give my regrets to Dr. Cory, will you?"

"Oh, we won't be leaving here for a couple of days, Bones. You and Cory will have plenty of time to discuss these new procedures."

"It could be a great day in medical history," Bones mused. "Medication found that will cure Variaega Flu…and medication found that can relieve criminal insanity, each tested on the same day."

Spock's eyebrow rose and he seemed about to speak. But he decided to leave his comments on the possibility of curing criminal insanity unsaid. Now was not the moment.

Kirk picked up the vials that Bones had waiting for him, and then he and Spock continued toward the transporter room. Ensign O'Dell was at the controls.

Kirk punched a button.

"Scott here, sir."

"We're beaming down now, Scotty. Recognition code Chess Problem."

"Chess Problem, aye."

Kirk and Spock assumed their positions on the transporter pads, and Kirk nodded at O'Dell. O'Dell worked the controls expertly.

The two shimmering columns of light solidified into Kirk and Spock, in Cory's command center. Kirk blinked as it took, as usual, a couple of seconds for everything to snap back into place. Then he reached out and shook hands with Donald Cory.

"Donald."

"Jim. Mr. Spock. I'm glad to see you. I've a new staff since the last time you were here. I'd like to introduce Dr. Evangeline, one of my aides."

Kirk turned and extended his hand to the rather lovely, middle-aged woman who stood there, clad in a light-blue medical uniform.

Cory handed her the case. "Evangeline, my dear, please take this to the laboratory."

Evangeline inclined her head, took the case, and left the room.

Cory turned back to Kirk and Spock. He punched a couple of buttons.

"The force field is back in place now." He said cheerfully. "That means you two are trapped here. And I'm not accepting any excuses for you not dining with me."

"We'd be delighted." replied Kirk with a smile.

"You indicated one additional inmate since our last visit," interpolated Spock, "making a total of 15. Is that correct?"

"It is. The rehabilitation program isn't progressing too well. And I have my doubts about the effectiveness of this medicine too."

"Why, Donald," said Kirk. "Are you becoming a pessimist?"

Cory grinned. "I'm afraid I have."

"Who is the new inmate?" asked Spock.

"Garth," said Cory. "Garth of Izar, a former Starship fleet captain."

Kirk froze for a moment. He had known that the famous Garth of Izar had now become criminally insane, but for some reason it hadn't occurred to him he was so far gone that he'd been transferred to Elba.

Very softly he said, "When I was a cadet at the Academy, his exploits were required reading. He was one of my heroes."

Cory stared at Kirk with narrowed eyes. He then punched a couple of buttons, and the photo of an aged, bald, pot-bellied man appeared on the screen. Kirk and Spock looked at the photo blankly.

"I have seen photos of Captain Garth," commented Spock, "and…"

"And you don't see the resemblance?" Cory said with a grin. "You must remember that after the accident which Garth suffered, he had to undergo several operations. His face was completely changed. And when those medical procedures were failing, he was brought to Antos IV, with the results you know. _That_ is what he looks like now."

Kirk was gazing at the photo, but his thoughts were on the Garth of Izar that he'd admired as a cadet. "I'd like to see him, Donald."

"Of course," said Cory, making a movement toward the door. Then, he stopped, and glanced up at the chronometer.

"No, Jim. Not now. Why see him now? If you will wait 24 hours, when we will be ready to utilize the medicine you have brought us… you will be able to see him as he once was. As he really _is_."

Jim Kirk nodded. "You're right, Donald, of course. I…. I'd rather see him then."

Cory smiled. "I'm glad."

Cory tapped his fingers on the command console. "I wonder…if I may be permitted to change my mind…I was thinking…rather than you dining with me, may I not dine with you? Aboard the _Enterprise_?"

Kirk grinned. "Don't tell me you actually want to leave this place, Donald?"

Cory grinned. "Only briefly, Jim. Only briefly. What do you say?"

"Certainly. But…" Kirk looked around the command center.

"Of course," said Cory. He punched a button. "Evangeline?"

"Yes, Governor Cory?"

"Will you return to the command center, please. I am going up to the _Enterprise_ with our guests, and you will take over in the command center until I return."

"Of course, Governor."

Cory then gestured for Kirk, who went over to the command console and made contact with Scotty. "Slight change in plan, Scotty. We're going to beam up with Governor Cory for a few hours."

"Very good, sir. Queen to queen's level three."

"Queen to king's level one, " replied Kirk.

Cory bent his head, and brushed his finger against his nose a couple of times, as his lips quirked.

"Standing by to beam up," said Scotty.

At this point Dr. Evangeline entered.

"Evangeline," said Cory. "I leave you in charge. You know what to do."

"Yes, Dr. Cory."

Cory went to stand beside Kirk and Spock.

"Three to beam up, Scotty," Kirk called.

The three figures dissolved into glittering columns of energy.

Ensign O'Dell slowly brought the levers up to the off position, and watched as the three columns of energy solidified into three human beings.

There was Captain Kirk, there was Mr. Spock, and there was a third man, wearing a simple dark blue tunic. Tall, muscular, with graying hair parted in the middle so that it looked like angel's wings on either side of his head, grey eyes… and below that…a horribly, horribly scarred face.

O'Dell couldn't help it. He fell to his knees and began to vomit.

Kirk and Spock stared at what should have been Dr. Cory in shock. They knew enough about the transporter beam to know that _it_ hadn't somehow destroyed Cory's face… this wasn't Cory.

Alerted by their expressions, Garth of Izar wasted no time. Even as it occurred to him that the transporter must have reassembled his molecules as himself, rather than as Cory, his hand was snaking down to the phaser with which he had equipped himself, hidden under his tunic. Garth was fast, as fast as a gunslinger from Earth's wild west, but he was only a second or so faster than Kirk and Spock. Had they been ten feet away, it would have been no problem. But they were only a foot away from him. Spock managed to knock the phaser from his hand just as Kirk lunged for him.

Garth, fast as a cat, grabbed Kirk's arm and spun him into Spock with all the strength of which an Izarian was capable. Both men went down. But the phaser had skittered away toward the oaf manning the transporter. He appeared absorbed in losing his lunch, but who knew how long that weakness would last? And strong as he was, he could not fight off both Kirk and Spock.

All this went through Garth's mind in a split second, then he was racing for the door. Once in the corridor he started sprinting, and if insanity gave a man superhuman strength, it also gave him superhuman speed. By the time Kirk and Spock had made it into the corridor, Garth had disappeared into the _Enterprise_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Who Goes There? Or The Mind of Garth of Izar**

_A re-envisioning of Whom Gods Destroy?_

By Gale Force

CHAPTER Two

**Part One**

Kirk and Spock had sprinted into the corridor, but knew it would be too late to catch the escapee. Garth of Izar. With that ruined face…they knew that's who it must be. And they knew what he wanted.

As one, without the necessity for words, they returned to the transporter room. Kirk punched the communication button on the console while Spock fetched various cleaning materials from the first aid room.

"Kirk to bridge. Come in Scotty," barked Kirk.

"Scott here, sir," came back the Lt. Commander's voice.

"This is an emergency, Scotty. Under no circumstances is _anyone_ to enter or leave the bridge until Mr. Spock and I arrive there."

"Very good, sir," said Scotty calmly.

Spock was wielding a mop. He glanced up at his Captain, but knew that Kirk had probably just stopped for breath. And indeed it was so. "And when I say Mr. Spock _and_ I, I mean just that. If either of us enters the bridge alone, clap him in irons. Understood?"

"Um…yes, sir," said Scotty.

"I'm going to repeat that, Scotty. Both Mr. Spock and I will be heading for the bridge shortly. Both of us have to arrive there. If either of us arrives without the other, clap him in irons."

"Yes, sir. Understood, Captin."

"All right, Scotty. I'll explain when we get there. Kirk out."

Ensign O'Dell had regained his feet and was wiping his face with a cloth which Spock had given him.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said shakily. "I just..I never saw anything like it…"

"Don't worry about it, O'Dell. Take over cleanup from Mr. Spock, will you?"

"Yes, sir."

Kirk punched another button. "Kirk to Security. I want a security detail to the transporter room. On the double."

"Yes, sir," came a voice.

Within five minutes, seven red-shirted security guards entered the transporter room. Their commander, Lieutenant Agatha Parker, saluted. "Security detail as requested, sir."

While he waited, Kirk had punched up a photo of Governor Donald Cory on the computer screen, and printed out a map of the Elba II facility.

"Lieutenant," said Kirk, handing her the map, "an inmate has escaped from Elba II and is currently aboard this ship. Somewhere down there is the governor of the colony, Donald Cory. I want you to find him. I also want you to assume that the rest of the inmates of the asylum are running loose, and you are to capture them. Remember that you're dealing with the criminally insane. I don't want any casualties, either from your detail or among the inmates."

"Understood, sir," said Parker.

Kirk paused, and glanced at Spock. "Anything to add, Spock?" he said.

"I suggest that a guard be left here, with Ensign O'Dell. I also suggest, Lieutenant Parker, that your security detail stick together. If you must separate, at the very least always stay in twos."

Parker nodded again. "Understood." She glanced at her detail – five men, one woman. "Dutch," she said. "You'll remain here with Ensign O'Dell."

Dutch was big and burly, and he didn't look happy to be chosen to babysit the transporter crewman, but he merely said, "Yes, ma'am."

"When you find Governor Cory, Lieutenant, you will bring him aboard the Enterprise immediately, and inform me of that fact. He is your first priority. Also…also, secure a woman named Dr. Evangeline. I'll want to talk with her shortly."

"Yes, sir," said Parker again.

"All right, Mr. Spock, let's get to the bridge."

**Part Two**

Garth of Izar was incandescent with rage. It was a mindless rage, burning white hot within him, as he strode along the corridors of the _Enterprise_. He had no destination in mind…he knew only that he must control this rage before he could do anything and he could not control it. He wanted to find a private spot somewhere and just destroy whatever came into his hands.

Of course, he was not so angry that he had neglected to shape-shift his face back to his favorite appearance of it. Clear grey eyes, long, straight nose, full lower lip, high cheekbones. A rather handsome face. It wasn't his original face…for some reason he couldn't stand to look at himself with his original face, but this one was a nice substitute.

The concentration needed to maintain that face was very slight…nevertheless he had to be conscious to do so. He dreaded going to sleep at night, knowing that in his sleep his face would revert to its real condition. But when he awakened, at the first snatch of consciousness he returned it to what he wanted it to be.

Occasionally he passed by a crewperson, either walking in his direction or approaching opposite him, but they paid him no mind as that burning rage was kept behind an impassive façade. He paid only the barest attention to them. Just enough to make them see, should their eyes land on him, that he was indeed wearing a Federation uniform, rather than that simple blue tunic that had been his wear on Elba II.

For while Garth had the ability to control his cellular form, he had no power over his clothing. What he _did_ have power over, however, was other people's minds. Oh, not a very great power. He had only the power to make them see what he wanted them to see…in this case…the fact that he was wearing a gold shirt and black slacks. And he could not control more than six people at once…he'd have to be careful of that…it would be best if he found a uniform as quickly as possible and changed into it.

Garth's fists clenched. Captain Kirk's uniform, for choice.


	3. Chapter 3

**Who Goes There? Or The Mind of Garth of Izar**

_A re-envisioning of Whom Gods Destroy?_

By Gale Force

CHAPTER Three

**Part One**

While Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock made their way to the bridge, Lt. Parker activated the com-link to the surface and requested that the force field be lowered.

In Dr. Cory's command center, Dr. Evangeline bit her lip. This wasn't supposed to happen. Garth…or Dr. Cory!…he was the only one who should be requesting that the force field be lowered…and that only so that he could have _her_ beamed up to the _Enterprise_!

Should she refuse? No, that would only create suspicion. If Garth had been captured…but he couldn't have been…but…but…if he had been captured….then she had to insure that she appeared innocent…so she'd be free to provide help if needed in future…no one on the planet suspected her, or even knew what was going on, for that matter…she had nothing to fear if she just kept calm.

"Lowering the force field now," she said, and pressed the appropriate buttons.

The six red-shirted security guards shimmered into life in front of her. One of them, a woman wearing more hash marks on her sleeves than the others, stepped forward. "I'm Lt. Agatha Parker," she said. "May I ask who you are?"

"Dr. Evangeline," she replied. "What's the matter? What's happening?" she didn't try to keep the anxiety out of her voice.

"We have reason to believe that the inmates have taken over the asylum," said Lt. Parker. Behind her she heard a snigger. She coughed. "I mean to say, we need to inspect the facility. Do you know where the inmate Garth of Izar is being kept?"

Evangeline's heart sank. So, something _had_ gone wrong.

"I can show you, certainly. But you're quite wrong. Look, I can show you from here."

She indicated a rack of monitor screens, and pressed button after button. "Here are all our _patients_." She stressed the word, patients. "As you can see they're all…they're all…"

"What's the matter?" demanded Parker sharply.

"That man in Garth of Izar's cubicle…" Evangeline said… "that's not…that's Dr. Cory."

Parker peered at the screen. There was indeed a man in the cubicle, who matched the photo her Captain had shown her. Of Asian descent, in his sixties, he stood with arms folded, gazing out into the corridor.

"There's a man on the bed, too," commented Parker.

Evangeline squinted. "Yes, I see him. That's one of our security guards. That's Al."

"What about the rest of the in..I mean…the patients?"

Evangeline made a show of looking carefully at each monitor. "The rest are where they should be. And you can see from these buttons," she indicated, "they're locked in. It's only…but I don't understand. I saw Dr. Cory just a few minutes ago! He beamed up to the _Enterprise_ with the Captain and a … a Mr. Spock I think his name was."

"Everything will be made clear in due time," said the lieutenant. "Captain Kirk would like to have a little chat with you in a few minutes. For now…Tyler, Logan, you remain here with Dr. Evangeline. The rest of us will go get Dr. Cory and bring him here. And Al."

She turned to Evangeline. "Can you give me a key to the cell?"

"The cubicle," Evangeline corrected automatically. "I, yes, here." She handed over a little black device, about the size of a communicator. "It opens everything. Just point and press."

"Right. Thanks."

In a very few moments, she and the rest of her team had returned to the control center with Dr. Cory and the security guard. Parker opened her communicator.

"Parker to Captain Kirk."

"Kirk here."

" The facility is secure, sir. Only Garth of Izar is missing. Dr. Cory and Dr. Evangeline are with me now."

"Donald," came Kirk's voice. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Jim," Cory said, though his voice was tired. "I must speak with your urgently."

"Right. Prepare to beam up."

"But what about the force field?" demanded Evangeline…. "what about…"

"Lieutenant Parker, choose someone to remain behind with you. You'll have to get in touch with the medical staff there shortly, in any event," Kirk spoke briskly. "The rest of you beam up. Then, Parker, activate that force field again."

"Yes, sir."

She flipped closed her communicator. "Wade, you're with me. The rest of you, prepare to beam up." She flipped open her communicator again, this time for the transporter room. "Beam 'em up, O'Dell," she said.

And within seconds, she and ensign Ben Wade were alone in the command center.

**Part Two**

Every starship captain has a ready room just off the bridge, where he or she can meet with his officers and crew in a more private atmosphere than the bridge itself, while still remaining close to that heart of the starship.

Kirk, Spock and Dr. Cory were in the ready room. They had already interviewed the security guard, Al, who had explained that he'd been making his rounds as usual when he saw Dr. Cory in the cubicle of Garth of Izar, looking beaten and bloody. He'd rushed in, and that Dr. Cory had risen up and struck him. And that's all he knew.

Cory had then given his story. He'd been in the command center, the door had slid open, and he came face to face with himself. And then he, too, remembered nothing more. Garth must have equipped himself with Al's phaser. The next thing he remembered, he had waked in the cubicle, with Al lying unconscious on the bed.

Dr. Evangeline gave her story next. Dr. Cory had approached her, and told her that the starship Enterprise was nearly there. He was going to give her in charge of the medicine she was inspecting. That Cory had acted completely normal, completely sane…she had no reason to suspect…

Al and Evangeline had then both taken their leave, escorted by security guards. Al to sickbay, to have a thorough check-up to ensure there were no lingering after-effects from being knocked unconscious, and Dr. Evangeline to guest quarters where she would remain until they found Garth of Izar.

When they were alone, Kirk looked at Cory.

"Tell me abut Garth, Donald. How can he change his form at will?"

"You know what happened to him, don't you?"

"Pretend I don't," said Kirk. "Tell me the whole story."

Cory shrugged. "He was taking his ship to Vomisa IV for a refit, when he received a distress call from a mining colony. His was the only ship in range, so of course he went to their rescue. It was a rogue mining colony. People had come across an asteroid full of …" Cory gestured… "some valuable metal….I forget now what and it's not the point. They'd settled there and began mining, and it was an unstable asteroid. It started to disintegrate, and the lives of a hundred people were at stake."

Kirk nodded, grimly.

"The metal was such that it was impenetrable to the transporter. The only way to rescue those miners was to go in physically and drag them out…the asteroid disintegrating around them all the time. Garth would never ask a crewman to do what he himself would not do…" Kirk nodded, approvingly…. "and so he led the rescue party, along with a group of volunteers."

Cory spread his hands. "The rest you know. Garth and his men saved most of the miners. Garth was still in one of the tunnels, trying to get out the last of them, when it collapsed, crushing him. The men he'd been trying to save abandoned him, rushing to the surface and safety. A few of his own people went back into the tunnel and dragged him out, but he was near death.

Garth's crew loved him, as I'm sure you can appreciate. They knew the only way to save him was to break protocol, to take him to the forbidden planet, Antos VII, where the Antosians could save his life. And they did so, by teaching him cellular metamorphosis…. which enabled him to restore the destroyed parts of his body..including his face."

"Yes….I saw his face…"

Cory nodded. "From there….it must have been a natural progression for him to realize that he use that knowledge to recreate himself as anyone he wanted to be."

"Re-create himself," murmured Kirk.

Cory nodded. "They saved his life, but they drove him mad."

"Perhaps," said Spock, "that is part of the cause of his insanity. Anyone who can change themselves to look like anyone else they please…it would be difficult not to become a megalomaniac."

"And that's the form Garth's madness takes, eh?" asked Kirk.

Cory steepled his fingers. "It's true. Garth's goal is to take over the entire universe. He styles himself, "Lord Garth" now."

Kirk blinked at him. "The _entire_ universe?"

"It could be done," said Spock judiciously. "If he could have taken the _Enterprise_ to Earth, sought out the President of the Federation, and replaced him….he would effectively be in control of much of the known universe."

Cory smiled wanly. "That's your Vulcan logic coming to the fore, Mr. Spock. But unfortunately you are wrong. Garth doesn't want to assume control of the universe, he wants to _take_ control of it. By violence. He wishes to assemble a fleet of starships and destroy everyone who stands in his way. Conquest by war…that's what he intends."

"Destruction for the sake of it," murmured Kirk.

"Exactly. Some burgeoning hatred…_something_…is driving him to destroy …I could never get him to speak to me of anything…personal…it was only his goals of conquest he would freely discuss. Drugs, medication, nothing could break the block into his unconscious mind…I failed him…"

"Only up until now, Donald," said Kirk. "We'll find him, we'll give him that new drug, and he'll be on the way to being himself again."

"I hope so, Jim. But that doesn't change the fact that right now, you've got a megalomaniacal madman running around the _Enterprise_, with only one goal in mind. Destruction. No one on board this ship is safe."

Kirk nodded, face grim. "I know, Donald. I know."

**Part Three**

Garth of Izar walked into the Observation Room, stopped just inside the door, and assessed possibilities.

There were a handful of people in the room. A man and woman were sharing drinks at a corner table, another couple were gazing into each other's eyes in a different corner table…. And a woman sat alone at the observation portals in the rear of the room, gazing out into infinite space.

Garth walked over to the drinks dispenser and checked the choices. A variety of soft drinks…no alcohol. Did Kirk run a dry ship, then? Or did he just not allow it in the Observation rooms?

Garth chose two Pepsis… a favorite tipple of his since his Academy days, and then carried the small cups back toward the rear of the room, which was one vast expanse of glass and darkness beyond.

He stopped beside the woman. "May I join you?" he asked.

She looked up at him, and smiled sweetly. "Sure."

Garth sat down next to her, and held up a glass to her. "I hope you like Pepsi."

She smiled again, and took it. "Thank you."

Garth leaned back into the softness of the chair and stared out into the darkness…and at his face, reflected in the glass…it seemed as if his entire face were spread out over the universe…like that of a god.


	4. Chapter 4

**Who Goes There? Or The Mind of Garth of Izar**

_A re-envisioning of Whom Gods Destroy_

By Gale Force

CHAPTER FOUR

**Part One**

The woman – she was a Lieutenant, Garth noted – sipped her Pepsi. Then she held out her hand to him. "I'm Katya. Katya Landau."

He smiled. "I'm G…us. Keller. Gus Keller."

"Hullo, Gus," she said, and then turned her attention back to the stars.

Garth noted that she looked rather sad. Was she one of those people who liked to look at the stars because it made them feel in their place, with regards to the universe? Small and infinitesimal?

"What are you thinking?" he asked her, gently.

She grinned. "I was thinking of a poem.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,

I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace

Where never lark nor even eagle flew—

And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."

Garth stared at her, shocked.

She looked at him curiously. "What's the matter? Don't you like poetry?"

"Yes," he said quickly. "It's just…I had been thinking of something similar, only a few seconds ago." But he knew that she had not been thinking what _he_ was thinking…that he'd like her to be touching _his_ face. So odd, that she had been thinking of that…

"The stars make you think of god," he said, carefully.

She grinned. "Oh, no. Not at all. It's just that I've become addicted to jet aerobatics. Every time we're in orbit around a planet, a group of us put on our spacesuits and jetpacks and go out and just soar among the stars. There is nothing quite like it. But we're not allowed to do that here, and it's just so disappointing."

Garth threw back his head and laughed.

"What's so funny?" she asked, prepared to enjoy the joke.

"I was amused, because I had completely misinterpreted your expression, that's all. As I said, some people look at the stars and think they are god, some look at them and think of how small they are…and you look at them and wish you could go out and play among them."

Katya laughed, but inwardly she felt a bit puzzled. Why would looking at stars ever make someone think _they_ were God? She didn't bother to ask, though. This man was fascinating her. Handsome, self-confident…but something curiously vulnerable about him…

She nodded at the stars outside the glass. "Do they inspire you to poetry?" she asked.

Garth turned to look out at the stars once more. He'd long been an aficionado of the Earth poet, Shakespeare…. Very slowly he said, "I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams."

Katya's face sobered, and here eyes looked at his face searchingly. "Yes," she said, quietly. "You don't sleep very well, do you?"

Garth stared at her again. One hand went to his face. How could she know that?

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I just… are you okay?"

Garth brought his hand away and smiled a brilliant smile. "I'm bored with the subject," he said. "Let's talk about something else."

**Part Two**

Kirk, Spock, Scotty, and Security Chief Clay Barker were in Kirk's ready room, and Kirk had just finished laying out the situation to them.

"We've got a man on board who can assume any form he wishes. Me, Spock, one of you…presumably even a woman. He could be _anyone_. Now, how do we find him? Bearing in mind that I want as few people as possible to know this. If the crew thought that I or Spock could be an impostor at any time… morale aboard this ship would break down in a heart beat."

Barker nodded. "What steps have you taken so far?

"Since Garth escaped the transporter room, neither Spock nor I have been out of each other's sight. So I know that we two are who we say we are. I want you to assign a security guard to each of us. We will go nowhere alone. If we are ever found alone, we get clapped in irons, no exceptions."

Barker nodded again. "You think he'll come after you or Mr. Spock?"

"Yes. Either me, Spock, or any of the command crew. I'll want a security guard assigned to each of them as well. No exceptions."

"Would it do any good to distribute a photo of him as he looks now?" asked Barker. "I mean, as he normally looked, when he was in custody here?"

Cory shook his head. "I doubt it, Chief Barker. For example…" he punched up, on screen, the same photo that the false Doctor Cory had shown Kirk and Spock on their initial visit to the command center. "That, for example, isn't Garth of Izar at all – his bodily shape, let alone his face…and yet that is the only photo in our databanks now. Garth must have substituted it when he took over my office. As for the face he had before the accident…he looked nothing like that when he came to us, so that won't help, either."

"Pity," said Kirk. "All the more reason why none of the command crew is to be left alone. Ever. He may come after any of us and there's no way of knowing what shape he'll assume. Even if he uses his…let's just call it his "real face", for the sake of argument, there's no way to recognize him."

"There is one thing," mused Donald Cory. "Garth…has a temper… which he is quite unable to control. Any slight, real or imagined, anyone who does not pay due deference to him as lord of the universe…and he is quite likely to go berserk."

Kirk leaned forward with a concerned expression on his face, as his heart sank. He didn't like the thought of a madman running loose on the _Enterprise_, but he had believed that however mad he was, he would not make the mistake of attacking the general crew…that only the command crew would be his target.

"Do you think that's likely, Donald? That he'd attack and harm an anonymous crewmember? When he must know how important it is for him to stay…well…invisible?"

"There is that," Cory nodded. "He is able to control his mania for periods of time. If he is pretending to be a …well, an anonymous crewmember…he likely will not become offended if someone treats as an anonymous crewmember."

Kirk breathed a sigh of relief. "That's what I'd thought."

"Why does this madman have to go after anyone at all?" asked Scotty. "All he has to do is pretend to be a crewman. The next planet we reach that has passenger freighters, he jumps ship and away he goes."

Kirk shook his head. "No one is getting off this ship until we find Garth, Scotty. And he must know that. He's trapped on board the _Enterprise_ as surely as he was trapped on Elba II."

"Unless he finds a way…initiates a way…for it to be necessary to evacuate the ship," mused Spock.

"Thank you for that cheerful thought, Spock," commented Kirk.

Spock gave one of his patented shrugs. "We are dealing with Garth of Izar, one of the most…if not _the_ most, brilliant starship officers the Federation has ever had. We must be prepared for anything."

Barker cleared his throat. "How about this?" he said. "We beam every crewmember down to the planet. You said yourself that his disguise can't withstand the transporter. Once they've beamed down successfully, they're paired with another, real crew member. Eventually, everyone has beamed down. Sooner or later, one of them will be Garth, and I'll have a security team on the surface, waiting for him."

"There are over a thousand people on board this starship," Spock commented. "The buildings in the colony below can house….perhaps….three hundred. No more."

"As we clear the crewmembers, we beam them back on board using one of the auxiliary transporters," Barker said. "Then we quarantine them, in pairs, in their quarters. Easy."

Kirk grinned wryly. "Easy," he said. He got to his feet. "Barker…it's a good plan. Time consuming, and with so many steps involved that errors can creep in. But I think, if implemented properly, it is the most proactive thing we can do."

Barker smiled. "Thank you, sir."

"Opinions, Mr. Spock?"

Spock steepled his fingers. "As you say, Captain, it will be time consuming, and with so many steps…it is indeed prone to error. Between the transporter room here, and the transporter room on the planet, and the auxiliary transporter rooms…and think of this…it may not work. What occurred earlier, when Garth was revealed to us. It may just have been that he had not realized that the transporter would rearrange his molecules as it did… but what if, now that he knows that, he can counteract it in future?"

Kirk grimaced. "Another cheerful thought, Spock. Thank you."

"My pleasure, Captain."

"Let's take a break for one hour," Kirk said. "When we reassemble, I want solutions that will actually work. Barker, call in a couple of guards for Spock and myself, please. We are in an urgent situation, but we can spare an hour to do some thinking. In that period of time, Garth isn't going to be harming anyone. He has no reason to, and every reason not to."

"Unless he feels himself trapped already," pointed out Spock, "and begins to assemble hostages immediately. Collecting bargaining chips to be used later, if the need arises."

Kirk gritted his teeth. The thought of his crew in danger…. And them not _knowing_ they were in danger…

"The situation just keeps getting better and better," he said grimly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Who Goes There? **

**Or **

**The Mind of Garth of Izar**

_A re-envisioning of Whom Gods Destroy_

By Gale Force

CHAPTER Five

**Part One**

As a perceptive Vulcan once observed, "It is far easier for civilized men to behave like barbarians, then it is for barbarians to behave like civilized men."

The same might be said, in reverse, for the insane…or at least for Garth of Izar. Oh, he was insane, but his insanity did not manifest itself in the flamboyant, openly psychotic mannerisms that he had adopted on his arrival at Elba II. He had not hidden his intentions…he _would_ take over the universe by right of conquest…but by playing a flamboyant role he had cowed his fellow inmates and bent them to his will. By his quicksilver moods and temper tantrums he had also succeeded in reducing the respect for him of the guards and medical staff, who saw him simply as a posturing fool.

Except for Dr. Evangeline. She had listened to his monologues, to his soliloquies about the universe and his place in it…and she had believed. To her he had been as a god…she had been among the first of his converts.

And now this girl…this Katya Landau…would become one, too.

It was galling, of course, to walk among these ants, these inferiors, to have to play these roles…but it had to be done…but once he had achieved his rightful place…he would cast aside these shackles and….

"I guess I _do_ feel a little sad," admitted Katya.

Garth blinked, and returned his attention to the girl. "What….what?"

"Well, who wouldn't, orbiting a place like this?"

"Oh, yes," said Garth, bringing himself back to the task at hand. "Elba II, home to the most incorrigibly criminally insane in the universe."

"Not even that, although that's depressing, of course. But to think that Garth of Izar is down there…"

Garth raised an eyebrow. "You've heard of Garth of Izar?"

It was her turn to stare at him in surprise. "Everybody has! Garth of Izar! We studied him at the academy."

"Not him," murmured Garth. "You studied his strategies…his battles…the famous battle of Axanar where he made his reputation."

Katay nodded. "That's true. But I've found out stuff about him since. Did you know he was actually born _on_ Axanar?"

Garth's eyes flared briefly. "You are incorrect," he said, very quietly. "Garth was born on the planet Izar."

She shook her head. "No…no he wasn't. He was born in a little village called Izar, on Axanar."

A fin of rage poked up out of the black waters of Garth's mind. He jumped to his feet, and seizing her wrist, pulled Katya to her feet also. "Where's your proof?" he demanded.

Katya stared at him in surprise, as he punched a button that caused a computer screen to rise up out of one of the tables in the observation chamber. (They were all equipped with them.)

"Show me," he said.

"What's the matter?" laughed Katya. "Have you been writing your thesis on Garth, or something? You're not going to find the truth in the computer system. Electronic books can be rewritten easier than anything, you know."

"Yes," said Garth, with a quick smile. "That's true. That is very true. But…I must admit I am somewhat disconcerted. Of a thousand people on this ship, I sit next to the one person who knows that Garth was born on Axanar."

"Oh, no, everyone knows," said Katya carelessly.

Garth felt like he was going insane. (The irony of that feeling was lost on him.) He forced himself to speak calmly.

"_How_ do they know? Explain this to me!"

"Well, I shouldn't say everyone," admitted Katya. "Probably just everyone in my jetpack group. The Pit Boss told us."

"The _Pit_ Boss?"

"That's just what we call him," Katya said with a grin. "We have a weekly poker game – my jetpack group, that is – the Boss is the only one who won't play. So we just call him the Pit Boss. Anyway, his father was actually one of the marines who fought on Axanar. And he brought back a book...a printed book…they still had those on Axanar back then. And it says that Garth had been born there. I've seen it with my own eyes."

"I see," said Garth. Each word dropped like a piece of ice.

"I've often wondered who was responsible for this rewriting of history," Katya admitted. "The Federation let down Axanar badly, and then Garth came in to save the day. Saves the Federation fleet only to find out that his entire planet is destroyed, all his people, killed."

Garth was very, very still.

"So did the Federation rewrite the reference books, change Garth's birthplace, so it wouldn't seem…I dunno, quite so tragic? Or did Garth ask that it be done himself? I mean, it would have been galling, wouldn't it, everyone complementing him on his success at the Battle of Axanar, and then saying, in low tones, "too bad about the planet and your family, though. You're coping very well." So he has them change the references to where he was born, so he doesn't have to put up with that stuff."

"Yessss," said Garth.

"As a matter of fact," continued Katya, "I don't think it was his later accident that drove him mad, at all. I think it happened the day he beamed down onto what was left of Axanar. Well…the seeds of it were sewn then, anyway."

"How perceptive of you, Katya," murmured Garth, looking at her with his cold grey eyes.

Katya looked at him searchingly. "Are you alright? Don't tell me, you _are_ writing a thesis on Garth, aren't you!"

Garth laughed. "No, not at all. But I wonder…would you mind introducing me to this Pit Boss of yours? I would very much like to meet him."

"Sure. Now?"

"Yes."

Katya looked at her chronometer. "He's off duty, too. I think he spends his time in Library Four about now. Let's go."

They turned toward the door, then suddenly Garth swung back. He watched, incredulously, as the aspect outside the rear observation window changed. The _Enterprise_ had turned so that the beautiful green…and ironically poisonous….atmosphere of Elba II loomed large in their sights. And then suddenly it began to drop away, as the ship left orbit in a hurry.

Katya stared out with him. "That's odd," she murmured. "I thought we were here for another forty-eight hours. I wonder what's going on."

"Yes," said Garth very quietly. "So do I."


	6. Chapter 6

**Who Goes There? **

**Or **

**The Mind of Garth of Izar**

_A re-envisioning of Whom Gods Destroy_

By Gale Force

CHAPTER Six

**Part One**

"Bridge to Captain Kirk."

Even before Kirk and the others had had a chance to leave the ready room in order to give thought to their little problem, Lt. Uhuru had signaled the Captain.

Kirk punched a button on the conference room table. "Kirk here."

"I'm picking up a distress signal sir. A Federation ship is under attack."

"On my way."

Kirk stood up. "Gentlemen. Stay in pairs. Return here in an hour. Mr. Spock, you're with me."

Kirk strode to his command chair, while Spock assumed his position at his science station.

"On screen, Uhuru."

Uhuru pressed a button, and the view screen sprang to life… or rather, to death. Out of the fog of a severely damaged bridge, the beaten and bloody face of a man looked out…his shirt showing that he was a captain in the Federation.

"This is…" static…. "of the USS _Red Admiral_. We've been…" static. "Nothing left… no hope…. Help."

"Open a channel, Uhuru." Kirk barked.

"Channel open, sir."

"_Red Admiral_, this is the USS Enterprise. I repeat, this is the USS _Enterprise_. What is your location? I repeat. What is your location?"

Nothing.

"There communications must be out, Captain," said Uhuru. "All I'm getting is the same distress signal, over and over again."

"Spock?" asked Kirk.

Spock twisted in his seat to look at Kirk.

"The USS _Red Admiral_ is an advance scout ship, captained by Richard Budman. Last reported location was in Sector Alpha Gamma 2.2. We are the closest starship to that location, Captain, by at least a week's travel time."

"Uhuru, do you have the coordinates from the distress signal?"

"Yes, sir, I've fed them to Mr. Sulu."

"Sulu, plot us a course. Then take us out of here. Warp factor six."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"Uhuru, can you clean up that message. I want to be able to hear the whole thing."

"Working on it, Captain."

"Very good. Spock, a minute with you in my ready room, please."

As the doors closed behind them, Kirk turned to Spock. "What do you think? Could this be a trap? Something laid on by Garth?"

"Impossible to say, Captain. But I would not have thought that Garth could have orchestrated anything of this nature from Elba II."

"That's what I think, also. If he could give orders to a ship capable of destroying the _Red Admiral_, he wouldn't have wasted it on destroying that ship. He'd have had it come here to take over Elba II."

"Agreed , sir."

Kirk pounded his right fist into his other palm.

**Part Two**

"Boss. There's someone I want you to meet. This is Gus Keller."

The two men shook hands.

The Pit Boss, as he seemed to prefer to be known, was a tall, husky youth of perhaps twenty five, Garth estimated. Several inches over six feet, with the musculature of a body-builder, he noted, as the youth rose to his feet from where he'd been seated gazing into a computer screen, and gave Garth a firm handshake.

He was also wearing the off-duty uniform of a security guard, as Garth had deduced he would…if his father had been a marine on Axanar, the Boss would follow in his father's footsteps. (All off-duty uniforms still had the insignia of one's rank and position aboard the _Enterprise_.)

So far…so good.

Katya continued the introductions. "I told Gus about what you knew about Garth of Izar, and he was very interested."

"Katya tells me you actually have a book…a printed book…from Axanar. I wonder if I might see it."

"Uh, sure. It's in my quarters."

"I hate to impose…"

"Oh, no, not at all. I love showing it to people."

"So Katya tells me. Everyone in your…. Jet Pack….knows of it, eh?"

"That's right. I'm sure she told you my father was on Axanar."

"Yes, she told me."

Katya looked at the two men consideringly. She'd always had rather a thing for the Boss, but he was too tall. Keller, now…he was older, indeed, he was one of the oldest crewmembers she'd seen aboard the Enterprise, but he'd kept himself in great shape, and he was just the right height, and kind of handsome, too. She wanted to stick around – after all, she'd been interested in Axanar too and she was not too shabby in the stratagem department…but she had the impression that Gus wanted to talk to the Boss alone. Well, she'd let them. Time enough for her to display her knowledge and acumen later on…

"Well, I'll let you two go alone, eh?" she said aloud."I'm going to go over to the duty room and try to find out why we've left station."

"We've left station?" asked the Boss, surprised.

Katya nodded. "Just a few minutes ago."

"Weird."

Katya nodded again. She sketched a wave at Garth, who gave her a charming smile, and then she turned and walked away.

**Part Three**

Garth and the Boss walked down the corridor. "Katya has only referred to you as The Boss," Garth commented. "What was your father's name?"

"Rick Hubbard. I'm Vince."

"Rick Hubbard," said Garth, musingly. He had led many marines, when he'd beamed down to Axanar for hand-to-hand combat with the enemy remaining on the planet's surface, after he'd destroyed their fleet…but he didn't remember a Hubbard…he must have been on the ground prior to the invasion…prior to the destruction of Axanar…one of the Federation men tasked with protecting Axanar from the Klingons…and failing.

He had expected as much. None of the marines who'd landed with _him_ would have found any print books still in existence…nothing had been left of his planet when he'd arrived except burned shells of buildings, scorched bodies, and Klingons to hunt down and kill.

They arrived at Vince's quarters, he pressed his palm against the hand plate and they walked in.

All the security guards lived two to a suite…but worked split shifts so that each person usually had the rooms pretty much to themselves. So it was on this occasion.

"Have a seat," said Vince. "Would you like a drink?" He waived his hand at the dispenser set in the wall. Garth went over and filled a cup full of Pepsi as the big security guard went to a bookcase. A bookcase, filled with archaic, print books.

Instead of sitting down, Garth went over and looked at them. "It's been a long time since I've touched a paper book," he murmured, running his left hand over the spines gently.

"Not many people have," said Vince, glancing at Garth in surprise. He drew out one of them. "Here it is. The book from Axanar. _A History of the Royal House of Gaveston_."

Garth took the book in fingers that trembled a little. Of all the books the Boss might have had, he had not expected this one. In its pages was almost the whole story of his life, of how he'd been a peasant boy, saved the life of Baron Simov's son from a runaway horse, been taken into the royal household as a reward and had grown as close to Simony as to a brother. How he had left Axanar to join the Starfleet Academy, while Simony had stayed behind.

That's where the story ended, too, for this book had been printed a couple of years before the battle of Axanar. The publishing house had decided to honor him when he had graduated from the Academy quicker than any cadet had ever done it before. The book had ended by predicting a bright future for him… Garth blinked away tears, and then looked up to find Vince staring at him.

"You okay?" asked Vince.

"Do you…" Garth began in a tight voice. He stopped, swallowed, and started again. "Do you know the story…of the destruction of Axanar?"

"What do you mean?" asked Vince cautiously.

"Not the battle of Axanar. The destruction before it. The destruction in which your father undoubtedly died."

Vince's face froze. "He did die on Axanar, yes. When the first wave of Klingons attacked."

"Do you know how it happened?"

"Yes," said Vince quietly. "I know how it happened."

Garth spoke, as if reciting a funeral dirge. "The Federation promised to protect Axanar, and its mining resources, from the Klingons. There was a squadron on station in that solar system. A whole squadron, under the command of the brother of the President of the Federation himself, Admiral Dixon Welles. And then the Klingons launched a feint that shouldn't have fooled the greenest of lieutenants, and Dixon Welles detached himself and half his squadron to meet it. Then the Klingons came in and overwhelmed the remaining ships, and then they beamed down to the surface of Axanar and they systematically destroyed it!"

"You're…uh…you sound very passionate about this…" said Vince, looking at him closely. "Did you lose someone on Axanar, too?"

"I lost _everybody_," gritted Garth. "And I use that word with_ precision_. And what happened to Dixon Welles, eh? Nothing. _Nothing_! He retired on half-pay and was assigned to a cushy job at a space station at the other end of the galaxy, where he lives now, in luxury."

"I'm sure he thinks about what he did every minute…" said Vince uncertainly.

"That's not enough," Garth barked. "Even if it were true, that's not enough. But it isn't true. If he felt any guilt about what he'd done that day, he'd have committed suicide long ago to make amends. But he continues to live…and laugh…and love."

Vince drew himself up to his full six foot six frame, and stood in front of the door to his quarters, as he realized that something was very, very wrong here. "Who are you?" he asked hoarsely.

Garth flung back his head. "I am Garth of Izar."

Vince stared at him, knowing it was true. "But…but…how did you get off the planet….?"

Garth came closer to Vince, who simultaneously shifted his feet into a karate stance. The huge, muscular man had no fear of the smaller one.

Garth relaxed control over his face, and the molecules shifted and dissolved.

Vince's eyes widened in horror and he turned his face away, clamping his lips together and swallowing convulsively.

"Look at me," said Garth, reaching out to turn the other man's face back to his. "Look at me! My parents! My sister! My brother! My wife! My people! Do you think any of them looked better than _this_, when the Klingons were finished with them?"

Vince shoved him away, but instead of trying to leave the room he strode further into the room itself, covering his face with both hands.

"What do you want from me?" he demanded from between his hands.

Garth breathed deeply, fighting for calm, and brought his face back to its usual, handsome appearance. "The Federation was supposed to protect them. Your father was supposed to protect them. You owe me a debt."

Vince balled his hands into fists and whirled on Garth. "My father died trying to protect your people from the Klingons! All his squadron died!"

"That's right, Vince. That's right. It's retired Admiral Dixon Welles who owes us _all_. And I think he should be made to repay it."

"But….but…" Vince looked at him uncertainly. "You're….this is an insane asylum…"

"I'm not insane, Vince," Garth said quietly. "Far from it. But the President knew that I was going to seek out his brother, eventually…and he framed me…he had me sent here to protect his brother."

That was a good story, Garth thought. And clearly Vince was believing it. And it was true, as far as it went. He did intend to kill retired Admiral Dixon Welles, as one of his first acts when he got command of a starship…he'd been working his way around Dixon Welles' station, in the course of fulfilling his duties….before the accident…before Antos IV.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Vince.

"Captain Kirk knows I'm on board. He knows I can change my face – as you have seen. He is doubtless taking precautions. He will have someone with him at all times. A security guard. I want you to be that security guard."

"No," said Vince, incontrovertibly. "I'll do a lot for you, but I'm not going to betray my captain."

"That is no more than I would expect from you," said Garth, calmly. "Kirk is a tremendous captain, isn't he?"

"Yes, _sir_," said Vince.

Garth nodded. "Vince, I'm not asking you to betray him, in the way you mean. He will not be harmed. No one on this ship will be harmed. All I'm asking is that you help me get to some kind of an outpost where I can get off this ship, and get on another one. That's all I ask."

"But…so why do you want the captain?"

"Because, should I assume _his_ shape, it will make it all the easier for me to get to that outpost."

"But you won't harm him?"

Garth nodded. "You have my word, Vince. No one aboard this ship will be harmed, if you help me. The first man I'm going to kill is Dixon Welles."

Vince took a deep breath. "O…kay. Okay then."


	7. Chapter 7

**Who Goes There? **

**Or **

**The Mind of Garth of Izar**

_A re-envisioning of Whom Gods Destroy_

By Gale Force

CHAPTER Seven

**Part One**

Captain James T. Kirk regained consciousness in a heartbeat. He remained unmoving, however, as he tried to assess what was happening. He was sitting…in a chair…from the way it felt to his body he knew it was _his_ chair, in his own quarters. He didn't need to try to move his arms lying on the armrests to know that they were secured, he could feel the tightness of the straps on his wrists. His legs were free, however.

What had happened? The _Enterprise_ had been warping along towards what remained of the USS _Red Admiral_, with an estimated arrival time of 18 hours. He'd decided to get some sleep… he'd need to be rested and refreshed to deal with both a madman loose on his ship and some unknown aliens going around destroying Federation starships…

He'd been walking along the corridor to his quarters with a security guard…but he'd never made it…what the hell had happened?

He strained his ears. He could hear nothing…or could he…no one was moving about…but was someone breathing?

Kirk opened his eyes. They widened only slightly when he saw _himself_ sitting opposite him, smiling cheerfully.

"We meet again, Captain Kirk," said the apparition.

"Captain Garth."

"You will address me by my proper title," said Garth/Kirk. "I am Lord Garth, master of the universe."

"You look like a captain to me," said Kirk.

Garth/Kirk's forehead creased, as he tried to figure out if Kirk were trying to insult him. Then he laughed mirthlessly. To Kirk, the world seemed to turn inside out, and then he saw Garth of Izar sitting in front of him, clad in the simple blue tunic of the scientist.

"You…" Kirk tried away to swallow away the dryness in his mouth… "you're very good with that little trick. How do you do it?"

"Cellular metamorphosis," Garth said. "Taught to me by the Antosians…"

"But…you can't be controlling your clothing as well?"

"Oh, that. No, that's another little trick I taught myself…we don't need to discuss it. What I want to know is this. Why has the _Enterprise_ left orbit? Where is she going?"

"Don't you know?"

Garth's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'm asking you."

"We received a distress call. The USS _Red Admiral_ has been attacked…destroyed. We're en route to their last known location, in Sector Alpha Gamma 2.2. How long have I been…here?"

"Four hours."

"Then we're fourteen hours away."

"I see," said Garth, musingly.

Garth gazed at Captain Kirk speculatively. His story had worked with the Boss…would it work with Kirk?

"I want you to read something, Kirk."

Garth pointed a device at Kirk's left hand, and the restraining strap released. Kirk glanced down at his wrists, and saw that he was restrained by straps used by his own security people. Someone had punched holes through the fabric of his favorite chair in order to do so. When he got out of this predicament, he'd allow himself to be annoyed by that.

Garth tossed him a print book, which Kirk caught awkwardly. "Read the marked passages."

Kirk did as he was bid. Then he looked up. "This doesn't match what the Federation has on file about you."

"No, it doesn't. But that's the true story."

"Yes…yes, I believe you." Kirk looked at him with compassion.

"I'm not insane, Kirk. I never was. But as you doubtless know, retired Admiral Dixon Welles, the man responsible for the debacle which _I _thenhad to go in and salvage, is the brother of the President of the Federation. He suspected…rightly, I grant you… that I wasn't going to let his brother get away with his incompetence. So he had me framed."

Kirk blinked at him. Didn't the man remember five minutes ago, when he'd instructed him to call him Lord Garth, Master of the Universe? But even if that happened…Kirk had a lot of respect for Donald Cory, governor of Elba II, and Cory believed Garth to be mad.

"If what you say is true, Garth…" began Kirk.

"_If_?" said Garth dangerously.

"Then I'll help you. But you can't hijack a starship…"

"_Can't_?" said Garth again.

"Yes," barked Kirk. "If! Can't! Do those words infuriate you so?"

Garth took a deep breath.

"And if they do, it doesn't mean I'm insane, damn you. It just means I'm used to people following my orders."

Kirk nodded. "Yes, I understand. Well, I'm telling you, this is _my_ ship…."

At that precise moment, there was a beep and Lieutenant Uhura's voice filled the room. "Bridge to Captain Kirk."

Smilingly, Garth punched the button, even as to Kirk, the world seemed to turn upside down again, and then Kirk was looking at himself. "Kirk here," said Garth, grinning at his captive.

"You're needed on the bridge immediately, Captain. There's…."

Suddenly, the ship rocked violently, and Garth/Kirk almost fell out of his chair. It rocked again. Garth knew what that meant – they were being hit by torpedoes!

The door to the living room of Kirk's quarters slid open, and the Boss strode in. "Captain…" he began. He stopped, looked at Kirk imprisoned in his chair and Garth/Kirk standing.

Garth/Kirk grabbed a phaser from his belt. "I'm Kirk, sergeant," he barked. "That's Garth in the chair. Now, take me to the bridge."

The ship rocked again, so violently that the Boss and Garth were flung against the bulkhead like ragdolls. The red alert sirens began to shriek.

"Garth!" Kirk yelled. "Let me go! They're blowing apart _my_ ship!"

Garth of Izar swore viciously, even as he resumed his own form. He could not deny the captain a chance to protect his ship. He deactivated the other restraint. As three, Kirk, Garth and the Boss raced for the bridge.

It was a difficult journey. The Enterprise was being hit by torpedo after torpedo. Smoke and fire filled the corridors. Damage repair crews swarmed here and there. The Boss put his bulk to good use, running interference for the two captains behind him. Finally they reached the Bridge.

Spock jumped out of the command chair and Kirk slipped into it. Spock glanced at Garth and an eyebrow raised as he assumed his own seat.

"What's going on, Spock?" Kirk demanded.

"We were attacked from long range, Captain. Our sensors spotted incoming torpedoes, but they came in too fast. We are too slow, and too immobile. We are being beaten into submission, and there's nothing we can do."

"Who's attacking us?"

Sulu put it on screen without being bid. The ship was neither Romulan nor Klingon. But whatever it was, it was killing them.

Kirk pounded the button to Engineering. "Scotty, what's the status down there?"

Scotty's voice came coughing. "We're dead in the water, Captain. No power to the warp engines at all. We've barely got enough power left to run essential systems."

"Right. Hang in there, Scotty, Kirk out."

Kirk turned to Sulu. "Status of our weapons, Mr. Sulu."

"Photon torpedoes are out sir. Phasers are offline…it will take at least thirty minutes to repair them…." Replied Sulu.

"Not that it would do any good," Chekov said, sotto voce.

"Uhura, open hailing frequencies," barked Kirk.

"Hailing frequencies open, Captain."

Garth was impressed by the calmness displayed by the Enterprise crew. They were seconds away from death and they must now it, yet they were going about their business as if it were an everyday occurrence. Did they have so much confidence in their captain, then, that they believed that even now he'd be able to do something to save them?

Two aliens appeared on the view screen, ugly (to human eyes) lizard like creatures.

"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise," began Kirk, and then Kirk felt a hand on his shoulder, as Garth came to stand beside him.

"And I am Fleet Captain Garth of Izar," said Garth, loudly. "In command of the _Enterprise_ at the present time. What are your terms?"

"Terms, Garth of Izar?" laughed the lizard. "You are beaten. One more launch of torpedoes and your ship is blown into millions of pieces."

"I don't deny what you say…yet you haven't blown us apart yet, so you must want something. Therefore, I ask again, what are your terms?"

"Complete surrender. You must beg for our mercy, and perhaps we will extend it to you."

The other lizard made a noise that sounded like laughter.

"We don't beg for anything," snapped Garth.

"Oh…you will beg, Garth of Izar. You will beg. We beam you over to our ship, you surrender, you beg."

"If I beam over to your ship, you let the _Enterprise_ go free?"

More laughter from the lizards. "They do not die…yet," said the leader.

"You have attacked a starship of the United Federation of Planets. Do you really want a war?"

"If your Enterprise is an example of the starships you have, why should we be afraid of a war?" laughed the lizard.

Garth's shoulders shrank, defeated, even as his eyes continued to dance around what he could see of the bridge of that alien ship. All starship builders, regardless of race, seemed to put the same kinds of instruments in the same kinds of locations….

"Very well," he said. "I will beam over to your ship."

"Garth…." Said Kirk.

Garth turned to face him. "Thirty minutes, Kirk," he said meaningfully. "All you need is thirty minutes."

"The wessel has lowered its shields," Checkov reported. "They're activating their transporter beam."

Garth shimmered and disappeared, and the view screen of the alien ship snapped off.

Kirk brought his hand down on his communication console. "Scotty. Get to the transporter room now. _Now_."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"Chekov, you said thirty minutes for phasers. Do it!"

"Yes, sir."

Spock came to stand beside Kirk's command chair. Kirk glanced up at him.

"You don't think Garth planned this?" Spock asked.

"There's no way he could have," Kirk said, definitively. "With a ship like that at his command? He never would have messed around trying to hijack the _Enterprise_. No, whatever those things are, they're acting on their own."

"Scott here," came Scott's voice. "I'm in the transporter room, Captain."

"Scotty, in about thirty minutes something's going to happen. I want you to be ready to get a fix on the bridge of that other ship. You're going to need to beam Garth of Izar aboard as soon as possible."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

They waited. Damage control reports flowed in from all over the ship. Damage repair parties went out to do what they could."

Kirk knew what Garth was going to try to do. Hell, they all knew. Nevertheless, he gave Sulu the order. "Keep your sensors on their shields, Sulu. Let me know the instant they come down."

For that was Garth's plan. That _had_ to be Garth's plan. Beam over, stall for time, then, either as himself, or metamorphosizing himself into a lizard, he'd find someway to cut the shields of that alien ship. And once he did so…

"Phasers back on line, Captain," Chekov shouted joyously.

"Sulu, status of their shields?"

"Their shields are fully operational, Captain. Our phasers will bounce off them like peashooters."

"Wait for it, Sulu."

Five minutes…ten….then Sulu shouted. "Their shields are down! Their shields are down!"

"All phasers fire," Kirk ordered. "Scotty, get Garth out of there!"

Without shields, a starship is as vulnerable to a microscopic meteorite than as to a phaser. The Enterprise's phasers darted outward, targeting every vulnerable spot Sulu and the weapons control room could think of, from what looked like engines to their phaser and torpedo capability.

"Direct hits," shouted Sulu. "Like a knife through butter. She's going to blow!"

And indeed, within a very few seconds the starship opposite them had disappeared into a white hot fireball.

Kirk hammered the communication console again. "Scotty."

"Captain."

The jubilation on the bridge quieted abruptly, as they all heard the sound of failure in Montgomery Scott's voice.

"Captain…I was never able to get a fix on him…I tried to beam the entire bridge crew aboard…but nothing came… I lost him, Captain."

Kirk took a deep breath. "It's okay, Scotty. It was a long shot. Get back to the engine room, you've got a lot of work to do there."

"Aye, aye, captain."

Kirk punched another button.

"Captain's log, stardate 1205.72. The Enterprise, en route to answer the distress call of the USS Red Admiral, was attacked and disabled by an unknown alien ship. Fleet Captain Garth of Izar gave his life, in order to rescue us all. …. Kirk out.

Kirk brought his hand down on the log button again. Mad or not, Garth had died a hero. And that's how he would be remembered.

Author's Note

My original plan for this story was to make it a cat-and-mouse game between Kirk and Garth, with them fighting it out to the end. However, a precipitous decline in readership, and not a single review, leads me to believe that no one's really interested in the story, so I've brought it to a close. Vox populi.


End file.
